holdingoutforjacob wrote:If SM specifies to the movie making people what she wants it to be, then that's one thing. But what I'm worried about is them putting an angle in there all on their own, one that has nothing to do with the original story.

Pendragon wrote:Wow never thought of it like that. In a way that could be bad, and some of the characters could be shown in a way none of us saw.

Yes, I think what holdingoutforjacob is worried about is a deviation from the established domain. It's happened many times when converting a book to a movie, some successful and some really not. Sometimes, even with the original author's input, new canon is created for the characters that conflict with the original idea. This is most definitely a concern, especially when developing multiple books of a series into movies. As an ex comic collector, I can sympathize with this view as I have watched some of my beloved comic books characters get melted down to an easily digested view for the masses. I sincerely hope this doesn't happen to this series. However, I don't think exploring Emily further would necessarily cause this to happen, provided it is done intelligently and with SM's approval and input.

Perhaps it has to do with my dislike of imprinting but whenever I read of her and Sam, I read it as a tragedy. It is a sad story and since I don't believe imprinting is about love, it's not one I can find any happiness in.

As for Emily's character, I read her as one of two things and it's something I have never made my mind up on. To me she is either selfish or weak and neither of those attributes make her an endearing character in my eyes.

To sacrifice someone who was once as close as a sister for a man you've just met is unforgivable. Though I agree with those who say that imprinting is almost as hard for the imprintee than the imprinter to resist, I also find it hard to warm to a character who could give up on that fight.

I know Meyer has talked of a scene in which Emily tells Sam to go away out of guilt for Leah yet then we hear that she has asked her to be a bridesmaid at her wedding From what we know of Emily's character, she doesn't appear to be malicious, so I'm willing to accept that as a momentary lapse of judgement on her part.

I think that of all the characters, Emily is the one I like least. With Rosalie and Leah, I can accept their coldness and cruelness because even without knowing, it was easy to see or imagine the motivation behind them. With Emily, I can see only motivations that benefit her and that is why I never seem to be able to sympathise with her character.

I don't think finding out more about her would ever change that because I am one of those who believe there was no excuse for what she did, though I am not adverse to adding more of her in the movie if it fits.

Emily was one of my favorite characters when I first read the books, it's great to see how others perceive her motives. Most people think she is selfish or cruel or maybe even just stupid. Personally, I see Bella as much more selfish and cruel than Emily and people love Bella. Why are people willing to make excuses for Bella's behavior and not Emily's?

Many people have thought Emily's actions towards Leah were unforgiveable. But at what point do you sacrifice your own happiness for another? Is Emily so undeserving of happiness that she must sacrifice her true love in order to keep her relationship with her cousin/sister? Especially knowing that the relationship between Leah and Sam is essentially over, whether she gets with Sam or not? A lot of people here talk about what they would do for true love (dropping everything to save your true love, Edward-Bella NM style), but condemn Emily for the sacrifices she has made. And I believe those sacrifices were great. I just think she deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Angelvamp wrote:Emily was one of my favorite characters when I first read the books, it's great to see how others perceive her motives. Most people think she is selfish or cruel or maybe even just stupid. Personally, I see Bella as much more selfish and cruel than Emily and people love Bella. Why are people willing to make excuses for Bella's behavior and not Emily's?

Many people have thought Emily's actions towards Leah were unforgiveable. But at what point do you sacrifice your own happiness for another? Is Emily so undeserving of happiness that she must sacrifice her true love in order to keep her relationship with her cousin/sister? Especially knowing that the relationship between Leah and Sam is essentially over, whether she gets with Sam or not? A lot of people here talk about what they would do for true love (dropping everything to save your true love, Edward-Bella NM style), but condemn Emily for the sacrifices she has made. And I believe those sacrifices were great. I just think she deserves the benefit of the doubt.

I guess a lot of people like me were able to see things more from Leah's POV and can't help but feel that Emily was wrong in betraying her. I know her personality isn't like that of an evil witch, yet I still don't mind reading fanfics portraying her as that. I guess Emily tried not to hook up with Sam knowing how he broke Leah's heart but gave in eventually. Your right, Bella is much worse than Emily, plus she got all she wanted while Emily sacrificed her relationship with her cousin.

I don't like Sam and Emily as a couple, because I think they're a sham. I don't like imprinting, I find it to be limiting and have nothing to do with love.

However, I like Emily. I think she did her best to resist being with Sam, I think she really tried, I don't fault her for being with Sam. I really hate Sam though. But if you look back, you'll see that I've defended Emily quite a bit.

However, that doesn't mean she gets off scott free though. She did ask Leah to be a bridesmaid, and from the way I remember it, it seemed like that request was not one that was made due to the closeness of her relationship with Leah, or one that was made with any indication to Emily that Leah had moved on from Sam and the pain of it all. In fact, it seems to be one made simply to assuage her guilt and force things to be better so she doesn't have to feel bad anymore. Or, it was one that was just made without a whole lot of consideration.

In order for Emily's request to not be awful, it would have had to be established that Leah felt comfortable with her even marrying Sam, that Leah even felt she could be at the wedding much less in it. Come to think of it, maybe it was even a desperate attempt to sort of force Leah to give her blessing???

I don't think Emily is cruel or mean or stupid. But I do think that we all do less than noble things to relieve ourselves of guilt and shame.

Emily was far from getting off "scott free". She had half her face ripped off, for gawds sake! Not to mention losing one of her best friends/cousins/sisters. Nothing like that even remotely happened to Bella.

I can see having a problem with imprinting, but it happened and no one can do anything about it. I'm not sure Sam and Emily's relationship should be viewed with such animosity due to something they can't control. It should just be accepted as an established event. Let's move on from there.

Once again, I don't remember it being explicitly said in any of the books that Emily asked Leah to be a bridesmaid. And even if she did, I would give her more credit than it being just to assauge her guilt. Family is important to her, as it probably is to Leah as well. Think about it this way: Include Leah in the ceremony as a member of the family and a friend or exclude her and basically say "you're not important in my life anymore"? I have the feeling Leah prefers having the choice. It's like Edward sending the invite to Jacob, he gave Jacob the choice of being there or not.

Angelvamp wrote:Sorry I haven't posted in so long, still recovering from the Twi Tour. Whew! It was great fun but now I need a vacation from my vacation!

I'm with you, holdingoutforjacob, I am not that fond of Sam either. Which makes me wonder, what traits does Emily see in Sam that make her love him? Other than the whole imprinter/devotion thing.

You know that is an interesting question. To me it's always seemed that with the whole imprinting business that Sam will simply like anything Emily likes and that the whole devotion thing is about the only thing attracting Emily to Sam.

It has been said that Emily didn't take to Sam right away, in fact she fought it for some time (how long, that's what I want to know) because it would hurt Leah. Sam did imprint on her, but that doesn't give him immediate access to her likes and dislikes. He would have had to woo her, but with things such a mess it would have been way more difficult. What kinds of things do you think he did or have to do to win Emily? There must have been some redeeming traits he had in the first place to interest her, especially when she knew that getting into a relationship with him would break her cousin's heart.